Naughty Dog pondering new IP and what comes after The Last of Us

Now that Naughty Dog has wrapped up "Left Behind," the first (and only) single-player DLC for The Last of Us, the studio is considering new game ideas.

"We have started brainstorming some stuff. To be honest, some of them are sequel ideas, and some of them are brand new IP - we've spent the last few weeks brainstorming new IP," Neil Druckmann, creative director of The Last of Us, told Eurogamer. "So we have to get some good steps and see... It's kind of like how we approached Left Behind. Can we tell people a story that's really worth telling, and that's not repeating itself? And if we can't, where can we get inspired - what is something that's really going to challenge us, and push storytelling in this medium forward?"

Druckmann's statements imply Naughty Dog is leaning more towards cultivating new ideas than pursuing a sequel to The Last of Us. Naughty Dog already has one confirmed sequel in development: the Santa Monica studio is working on a new Uncharted game for PS4.

"Left Behind," a prequel chapter to The Last of Us campaign, is set to be released on Valentine's Day, February 14, for $14.99. The supplemental story follows Ellie and her best friend, Riley, who are both stuck in a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone.